Hello Readers! Thank you so much for your reviews, they are so appreciated.

Here's chapter two. I hope you like it! (:

-Portkey to Hogwarts Express-

XX, Chelsea

The tracks rumbled below me, a steadily annoying vibration that didn't help my mood. Finding Rosie proved to be like finding a needle in a haystack— a very attractive, lovely, nowhere-to-be-found needle.

My owl cage was beginning to scratch at the insides of my palms, despite my best efforts to switch them every so often, and I knew I should be getting into my robes soon. But I wouldn't leave Baron behind. He was a dark owl, mostly grumpy, but he was a sense of comfort inside the lonely gray walls of the train.

Just before I'd given up all hope— about to timidly settle on a near-empty compartment of scary boys who looked like they could be Slytherins— I turned at just the right moment, and BAM:

I had crashed into her, sending both Baron and I yelping.

There she was, a flash of long red hair hanging in ringlets within the ribbon tied at the nape of her neck, the freckles across her nose dancing as she laughed.

"Sorry!" She chirped, still giggling as she straightened my sweater for me, and then her eyes locked for a moment on the Malfoy family crest at the bottom of my shirt. Her smile suddenly drifted away, out the train window, and I had to remember if it was really there at all—I was dizzy with pleasant surprise.

She cleared her throat. "Sorry," She repeated, more seriously this time, and then walked off down the train corridor.

"Wait," I heard myself say quickly, following her at once.

She spun around, eyes wide, expecting me to explain, but I was still at a loss for words. I simply watched as she studied me for a second, taking in the pleading look in my eyes.

"Are you all alone?" She asked, and my face flushed as I realized how pathetic I must look.

"No." I answered sharply, and her eyebrows rose a bit. "I'm just waiting for a friend."

"Really. And your friend's name is…?"

"Blaise," I told her, remembering my dad's friend's name, the one who brought his absolutely hideous daughter to play during the summer. I shivered absentmindedly just thinking of her ugly face always trying to persuade me into role-playing with dolls.

Rosie smiled just a bit. She was too smart to be fooled by my pitiful lies, but she was obviously going to play along for my sake.

"Right, Blaise, of course. I'm sure he'll be looking for you then." She was beginning to turn around.

"Yes, well, he's a bit thick in the head, and it might take him a while to find me… so I don't think it'd be too much trouble for me to sit with you," I offered, lifting my chin and smirking sexily, hoping to seduce her.

She burst into laughter. "What are you doing with your face?" I immediately stopped, frowning instead, but she continued to chuckle lightly, as if I were the silliest thing in the world. She smiled sideways at me, amused. "It seems to me you're the one in need of a companion. I should be the one granting permission."

My cheeks were hot with embarrassment and growing irritation. How dare she humiliate me in front of all these people? My mouth, which had gotten me out of so much trouble all my life, struggled to help me out of this one.

"Yeah…well, I-I…"

"Oh, just stop. No need to dig yourself further, right?" She took my arm, surprising me greatly, and led me down to a compartment as if it were no big deal. Baron hooted in disgust at the mistreatment he was suffering from his cage. I opened my mouth, to submit some sort of thanks, but I was hushed quickly.

She smiled. She dazzled. "My name is Rose Weasley, by the way."

"Um… I'm Scorpius, uh….Malfoy," I added, looking down at the crest on my expensive sweater uneasily.

"Goodness, you're so inarticulate. Well, come on in, Scorpius 'uh' Malfoy. And try to be on your best behavior, please. I am doing you a great justice, after all," She said, grinning as she poked me in the ribs. She was obviously the type of girl to enjoy making me flustered. I followed her inside the compartment sheepishly.

"Hello Albus!" She sang as soon as she swung open the door.

"I've been waiting on you forever, Rose," A voice said, and then it paused as she moved to the left, exposing me. Albus Severus Potter looked from me to his cousin skeptically. One could almost see the gears turning in his head as he looked me up and down, calculating my appearance suspiciously. "What's he doing here?"

I wondered again why everyone seemed to know me before they'd even met me, my eyes falling to the floor with self-consciousness, but Rose didn't seem bothered in the least at his worried tone.

"This poor thing was all alone outside and just begged me to let him sit with us. Didn't you, Scorpius?" She asked sweetly, smiling so smugly I had to bit my lips and clench my fists to keep from bursting into an argument again.

"Yes. That's exactly what happened," I growled, emphasizing my words sarcastically, and Rose snorted.

"Well, Albus? What do you say?" She asked, already plunking down on the worn leather seat across from him, laying her arms folded behind her head with poise.

Albus sighed, gazing over at his fiery-headed cousin with a look that included three parts exhaustion and one part amusement.

"Sure, mate." He told me finally, gesturing to the spot next to Rose. "Have a seat."

The conversation during the remaining part of the trip consisted mostly of magical treats, (Rose was fond of Fizzing Whizbees) which classes we would like the most, (Rose was thoroughly excited for learning new Charms, as well as Flying with broomsticks) until finally Albus brought up what was surely on every first years' mind: the Sorting Hat.

"You guys…what do you imagine you'll be sorted in to?" He asked nervously.

Rose answered immediately. "Gryffindor," She declared. My heart sank.

Of course. I thought. Of course she's a Gryffindor.

"What about you, Scorpius?" She asked me kindly, probably seeing the ugly look on my face in reaction to her answer. I cleared my throat, not daring to make eye contact with her.

"Probably Slytherin."

I winced and waited to hear what she would say about my answer.

"Slytherin. Hmm," She hummed simply. She seemed to be actually taking the house into thought rather than automatically judging it like so many others. I felt a tug of hope. Maybe she wouldn't desert me as a friend so soon.

"Yeah," I said, feeling more confident now that I knew she wouldn't hate me for the sorting, "I mean, both my parents were in Slytherin. Practically my whole family, really. All Slytherins."

She nodded. "I know."

This stopped me short—She knew, again. This could be an opening into talking about why everyone seemed to know all about my family.

"Really?" I asked, my eyes narrowing slightly.

"Mhm." She glanced over the Malfoy family crest again, her frown thoughtful. When she looked back up at me, her eyes were suppliant; almost in mourning. "But didn't you ever think that you could be different than your family?" She asked. I didn't understand the question exactly, but her eyes were so pleadingly hopeful all of a sudden, I had to answer somehow.

"Well," I began lamely, "I might've had a great aunt that was a Ravenclaw…"

Rose just shook her pretty head. Her eyes went back to normal. Whatever she was looking for, I hadn't supplied it, and she'd given up. I sighed internally.

Albus was looking pretty pale over all this talk of Slytherin. Rose noticed and slid next to him, all her cheery radiance regained. She threw her arm around him.

"What's wrong, Al?"

"I have absolutely no idea what I'm going to get sorted as," he said miserably, and Rose clicked her tongue in disagreement.

"Who cares? That makes it more fun!" She insisted.

Albus crumpled onto the seat in a nervous heap, obviously not the kind of person that accepted the unknown as adventure. I couldn't blame him; neither was I. He was muttering something about 'maybe Slytherin' but I couldn't make him out. I didn't really care to, anyways, because I was feeling my own anxiety about school… I ran my fingers over the sleek black pile of new robes sitting on my bag. Before I could suggest putting them on to Albus, the compartment door swung open.

"Hey Albie!" A boy called happily, throwing himself between Albus and Rose, the latter of which took her place next to me in this new guy's presence. "Are you kiddies ready to mount some thestrals?"

Albus groaned. "Leave off us, James!"

James, his dark hair shining faintly with copper tones in the sunlight, burst with laughter, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose as he did so. He resembled an older, more self-assured Albus, but with deep brown eyes instead of green. The laugh lines around his eyes crinkled in a friendly manner as he grinned. There was a Gryffindor tie hanging proudly down his chest, haphazard and un-tucked.

It was then he finally sensed my attendance in the room.

"Oh, my my…I hadn't realized you've made a friend, how rude of me…" He stuck his hand out to me. "James Potter, it's just exquisite to meet you…"

I took it, shaking carefully. "Scorpius Malfoy."

James' eyes widened about three times bigger, his mouth automatically slipping into a mischievous grin.

"Merlin! You don't say so?" Suddenly he was roaring with laughter again. "Oh, no….Oh, goodness. What comedy! Wait until Uncle Ron hears about this!" He winked at Rose and Albus, and then dashed from the compartment, his bold laughter echoing down the hall.

It was quiet for a couple awkward moments after he'd gone. With misery reeling my stomach sick, I had to sit and wonder again why being a Malfoy seemed to have a negative effect on me. What if my new friends didn't want to be acquainted with me after all, because of James' actions?

Rose shook my shoulder, and her warm smile melted me back into relaxing. It spoke volumes, that one smile: She accepted me. She didn't think I was strange, or bad, or anything like that. I could have been anyone. I looked at my reflection in her eyes and saw someone smiling back, someone I liked.

She clapped her hands excitedly.

"Albus! Scorpius! We're almost there! Come on you two; go get your robes on, and quickly!"

To Be Continued…